Can Santa find homeless family? Social agencies aid mother after fire

Maria Cardona stood stoically in front of New Life of Waterbury Church, choking back tears.

She came to Waterbury six years ago seeking a new life for her family. But a series of personal setbacks — the most recent a fire that burned away almost everything she and her three children owned — has left them without food, clothing, a job and a permanent place to live.

And she doesn't know what she'll do when her kids — 7-year-old Samantha, 9-year-old Katelynn and 14-year-old Amanda — expect Santa Claus to come.

"I cry a lot. My nights are horrible," Cardona said. "But I stop short of asking, 'What did I do to deserve this? What did my children do?'"

Cardona said domestic issues had led her and her children into homelessness in June, two months after she lost her job managing a laundromat.

She said she and the kids moved from shelter to shelter until a friend from New Life of Waterbury Church allowed her to stay with her at her Cooke Street apartment, in exchange for a little money.

A couple of days before Thanksgiving, the apartment burned. No one was hurt, but all their clothes, bedding, pretty much everything was lost.

The American Red Cross put them up in a hotel through the holiday weekend. Even though the apartment was not condemned, Cardona said it was never meant to be what she and her children need most — a permanent home.

"This experience has been really, really hard on them," she said, adding the three earn good grades in school, but are under a lot of stress. Her teenager, who helped lug all their clothes to and from shelters for months, was hospitalized last week with a "meltdown" over the situation, Cardona said.

"It's a lot for them to handle," Cardona said. "They've never been without a home."

Coming to their aid, however, are the bevy of social services available to her in Waterbury.

"We're here for exactly the reason Maria is out there," said Barbara Dublin, executive director of Greater Waterbury Interfaith Ministries, where, in addition to a soup kitchen and food pantry, a resource center is available to connect the needy with other types of aid.

"We can get her hooked up with every single avenue. We can connect her to every agency that's available to her," Dublin said.

And that's just what Dublin did on Thursday.

Dublin arranged for Cardona to meet with the city's office of the state Department of Social Services, and got in touch with legal aid to see what her rights are as a tenant and estranged common law wife.

GWIM also provided food for Cardona and her children, and will even ensure they have a good Christmas, Dublin said.

Cardona said she also visited New Opportunities Inc., where she applied for housing and utility assistance, and received help looking for a permanent place to live.

She is also scheduled to visit Acts 4 Ministry on East Aurora Street, where the charity will allow her to pick from its collection of donated clothes and housewares.

"We'll be able to provide her with school uniforms and other clothing for the winter," Acts 4 Executive Director Laura Coffin said, adding the charity also offers baskets of new toiletries and household products it gives to fire victims, as well as donated sheets, towels, pots, pans and electric cookware.

"We don't have to go and seek the donations because they're already here; all the clothing is arranged by size," Coffin said. "It's a free thrift store for everything they need."

Almost everything. Cardona has been unemployed since April.

Cardona, who described herself as a "people person," said she is good at customer service jobs and retail management.

"I need a job. I need a home," Cardona said. "I need a place for my children. I need to find a job so I can be able to pay my rent."

And, she said, she remains faithful it will all happen before Christmas.

"This will be our very first Christmas without a home or anything," she said. "The kids understand it but they have so much faith God is going to prevail for us. But then again, they're sad about it."